Bloody Umbrae
by IamDragonFury
Summary: Sequel to "True Origins." Sonic finds that his Dark Form is trying to tempt him to give into the darkness within. On top of that, a psychotic female hedgehog is planning a genocide of the human race; with the villainess being connected to him, Sonic finds himself torn between accepting his "destiny" as a villain and saving the world like the hero he's always been.
1. Chapter 1

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 1

This story picks up the morning "True Origins" left off.

Sorry I ended that story so abruptly, I was just really eager to get to this one, plus I wasn't about to write a sequal before finishing the first story.

Lastly: I've decided to start supporting SonicxTikal friendship and SonicxBlaze romance. Amy never was one of my favorite Sonic characters, but I feel she looks better with Silver

* * *

><p>Sonic was still sleeping, warn out by his self-performed exorcism.<p>

He slept soundly for half of the night, however, soon he started to hear what he thought he'd never hear again.

He heard that same voice, which was that of his dark form.

"_You idiot, you thought exorcising me would help? Stupid! You didn't free yourself from me, you've freed me from yourself, which has only sealed the fate of your future even more!"_

Suddenly he started he started to have bizarre dreams, horrifying dreams.

Sonic saw, in his dreams, his friends being brutally and graphically slaughtered by an unseen force.

In one of the more violent dreams he saw Shadow lying on the ground, brutally maimed. He heard a voice say "Sorry Shadow, but there's now room in _my _world for competition." what was scary was that the voice sounded similar to Sonic's own voice, but it was darker and fiercer. The unseen figure walked over to Shadow and pressed a strange looking firearm against fading black hedgehog's trachea, and pulled the triggers. The figure smiled as it watched the beaten hedgehog's dark red blood pool on the ground as it gushed out of his throat. Seeing no sign of life in Shadow, the figure started laughing manically. Then suddenly the figure became visible, Sonic now clearly saw...himself.

"No." Sonic muttered, seeing the horror in his dream, which seemed eerily realistic

He saw himself, but with a darker appearance, similar to that of his dark super form.

The last dream though was the worst.

Sonic saw himself in his darker form, battling someone he could not yet see, and he was fighting back hard. Soon he saw that the person he was fighting in his dream was Blaze, in her Burning Blaze super form.

"What!" he uttered

Blaze used her strongest fire-based attack against him, but somehow, Dark Sonic created a fierce energy sphere that violently slammed into her and dragged her down towards that ground at the rate as Sonic's superspeed, as Blaze fell, she lost all of the power she neede to maintain her superform, and hit the earth with a sickening cracking sound. when the dust cleared, Sonic saw, in his dream, Blaze laying in a steaming crater, critically wounded and bleeding heavily, with blood pouring out of her mouth.

Dark Sonic stared at the Cat's corpse in vain "We could have reformed this world perfectly to our liking," he muttered gravely "why did you have to resist?"

Then the dream ended.

Sonic woke up gasping for air, as while watching his dream, he had forgotten to breath for most of it.

He slowly stood up.

"Okay," he sighed "it was just a dream, just a dream."

Despite the sun not being out, there was still light coming in through the window.

Standing in the light, Sonic looked down at his feet, only to find that he was not casting a shadow of any kind.

"What the?" Sonic mumbled looking around

After investigating further, he found that nothing in his house was casting a shadow.

He wondered if it had anything to do with the dream he had just had.

Sonic walked to his front door.

However, before the hedgehog left his house, he heard a faint and familiar sinister laugh, but saw no one in the house with him.

"Maybe...not...so much a dream." Sonic shuddered

* * *

><p>The first chapter was meant to be a little slow, mainly it was just to introduce the mystery.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 2

The creeping darkness.

* * *

><p>Just as Sonic prepared to leave his house, there was a knock at his door.<p>

He opened it and found his entire gang on his porch, all looking either scared, confused, or both.

"I'm guessing none of you are casting a shadow either." he stated

"Nothing is," Tails said "well almost nothing."

Shadow looked down at the ground, it turned out that he was the only one and only thing still casting a shadow.

"I'm more confused than anybody." the black and red hedgehog said

They all entered the house and moments later everyone was sitting in Sonic's living room.

"I don't understand," Tails inquired "what could've caused this?"

Blaze, who was sitting next to Sonic, asked "What do you think, Sonic?"

Sonic didn't know what to say because for one he knew that he enabled it, second he was a little distracted by curious, yellow eyes.

"Something...went wrong." he sighed

"You think?" Blaze wondered

"Definitely." Sonic replied

"It seems a bit strange that this happened the night after finding out our true origins." Shadow pointed out

Sonic cringed.

"Maybe someone or something didn't want us to know." Shadow said

"Or someone counted on us knowing," Sonic suggested, having a realization as he spoke "because...maybe...he...they want something from us."

"What could they want?" Silver asked

Sonic thought about what he saw in his past, and remembered the machine his parents were building, the one that could do anything.

"I have to go somewhere." Sonic said, then ran at full speed out of the house

"That was wierd." Amy said

In the confusion, nobody noticed Blaze teleport away.

Sonic had gone to Christmas Island, via Chaos Control.

He knew what he was looking for, and he was hoping he could find it.

Only after going deep into the forest did he find what he was looking for.

It was the house that he was born in, he knew because he had recognized it from his trip to the past.

Sonic had to force the door in, as the elements had taken its toll on the unoccupied dwelling for years.

Now all he had to do was find the vital item he was searching for.

In order to find the item, he started tearing up the old floor boards.

Because they were so old, it wasn't hard to get the floor boards off.

After thirty minutes of dismantiling the floor, Sonic was still unable to find what he was looking for.

"It's not here," he sighed "how can it not be here?"

"Is this it?" Blaze asked

He looked up and saw Blaze, holding out the item in question.

It was the machine his parents had made years ago to overtake mankind, still in its deactivated form.

"I can time travel and teleport too you know." Blaze stated

Sonic didn't have time to ask questions.

"We have to destroy this," He said frantically "it's..."

"Don't worry," Blaze said calmly "I know what it is, so let's just get it over with."

"Okay." Sonic said

Blaze yanked him up.

"Burn it," Sonic said "please burn it."

Blaze held the small cube in her palm, and focused her flames in her hand.

However, as hard as she tried, her flames would not burn the cube.

"It didn't work." Blaze said confused

"Put down." Sonic stated

He picked up an old metal pipe, and tried smashing the deactivated machine.

Still, not even a dent could be made.

"Seriously!" Sonic groaned

"What is this made out of?" Blaze wondered

"I don't know." Sonic said

"Maybe Tails will know," Blaze said coolly "let's go back now."

"'Kay." Sonic said

"I'll teleport." Blaze stated, locking arms with the hedgehog, before teleporting them away

* * *

><p>Sonaze forever! I better not get any negative reviews regarding Silvaze, Shadaze, or Sonamy, if you want any of that, go find another fic.<p>

Sorry, it's just that, in my opinion, Sonaze is the best Sonic couple ever behind Shadouge.

I also support Silvamy because I think they're perfect for each other.


	3. Chapter 3

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 3

More stuff.

* * *

><p>Blaze and Sonic were in Tails' workshop.<p>

The plan was to analyze the materials of the machine Sonic found in his parents' old house.

"I might be able to figure out what it's made out of," Tails said "but, you're gonna have to activate it first."

Sonic looked at the small cube in his hand.

"I-I don't...even...feel comfortable holding this thing," Sonic replied tensely "I'd really rather not activate it."

"It's the only way to get a good look at it." Blaze said

He looked at her.

"Okay." he muttered

He turned the cube over and found a small button.

He pressed the button, which activated the machine.

The cube morphed into a giant cylander shaped machine with a broad flat base and a spherical apex up top.

In the center were seven slots for inserting the Chaos Emeralds.

"Interesting." Blaze stated

"Oh, my God..." Sonic stated flatly

Tails looked the machine over from top to bottom, inside and out.

He was unable to even begin to figure the device.

"This is _far_ beyond my level of knowledge." the fox-boy said

"What!" Sonic responded

"I don't know what this device is made of," Tails said "its material doesn't even look like it's from this planet."

"Well can you take it apart?" Sonic questioned

"I couldn't even get the bolts off." Tails stated

"Oh, GOD!" Sonic shouted in annoyance "Stupid machine!"

He started kicking the base of the machine.

"Stop that." Blaze said

"'Kay." Sonic whined

"We'll take this back to your house and we'll just keep an eye on it." Blaze offered

"Good deal." Sonic said

Of course, unbeknownst to them, Dark Sonic heard them, and he knew where this was heading.

"The machine will be mine." he snickered quietly

* * *

><p>Sorry it's going so slow, I'm just trying to let the readers know about the machine's critical basis and it's potential, it'll pick up soon enough.<p>

Hope it goes somewhere.


	4. Chapter 4

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 5

More stuff.

* * *

><p>Blaze and Sonic returned to Sonic's house, where Sonic planned to lock the deactivated machine in his crawl space.<p>

However, he seemed to space it off.

For one thing he couldn't stop staring at the godforsaken device, and for another thing, Blaze was still sitting on the couch with him.

Sonic stared at the little metallic machine in his hand.

Blaze looked at his hand aswell.

"Gonna put it away yet?" she asked

"I wanna," Sonic said "but I don't wanna let it out of my sight either."

"So what do we do?" Blaze asked

"Just keep an eye on it I guess." Sonic stated

"All right." Blaze said

They stared at the cube for several minutes.

"This is, um..." Blaze sighed "getting kinda boring."

"I know." Sonic said

"Anything on TV?" Blaze asked

"Let's see." Sonic replied

He picked up the remote control and turned on the television.

They flipped through the channles five times before concluding that there was nothing on.

"There _would_ be nothing on today." Sonic said irritatedly

He looked at the minimized maching in his hand.

"Now were stuck in this stupid house, watching this stupid machine, my stupid parents made, stupid, stupid, stu-pid!" he ranted

He stopped and started breathing heavily.

"You done?" Blaze asked calmly

"Yeah." Sonic stated

"It'll be all right." the cat girl assured coolly

"Maybe," Sonic responded "but what are we gonna do here while were alone here for the rest of the day?"

The two looked around while they sat on the couch.

Sonic crossed his arms and drummed his fingers on his shoulder.

Blaze leaned back against the couch, placing both hands on her knees.

Sonic casually inhaled and exhaled, looking at the ceiling stretched both arms out then brought them down.

One arm landed at his side, the other landed around Blaze's shoulders.

Sonic looked at her when he realized where his arms was.

"_Aw hell_." he thought

Blaze sighed, raised both hands, and let them fall back down.

One hand landed beside her leg, the other landed on Sonic's knee.

"_Dammit_!" she thought

"So," Sonic asked gingerly "hows it going?"

"Good." Blaze responded in the same tone

"I..." Sonic started

He did not get a chance to say anything more, as Blaze started kissing him ardently on the mouth.

Sonic remained momentarily petrified from shock.

Then, succumbing to lust, Sonic reached his hand over and dropped the deactivated machine on the coffe table, then took the cat princess in his arms as they continued caressing.

Seeing the machine left available, Dark Sonic, who had been watching and expecting the moment, used his shadow powers to take the machine unnoticed.

* * *

><p>No sex, just heated kissing.<p>

Again, I love this couple, and I better not get bad reviews just because certain readers don't like it.


	5. Chapter 5

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 4

Warning: Upcoming Plot Twist.

* * *

><p>Sonic woke up the next morning, realizing that he and Blaze had fallen asleep on his couch. Blaze was still asleep, laying with her head on his chest.<p>

He stretched his arms out as tried to wake up, and remembering the deactivated machine he had dropped yesterday. Sonic reached over to the coffee table, only to find that the machine was not there.

Sonic carefully slid out from underneath Blaze, and ran upstairs.

"No, no, no," he whimpered frantically "no, God, why, God, why, why, why, no, no, God, why?"

He started tearing his room apart, looking for the machine.

"Hedgehog!" a voice snapped

Sonic turned around and found Lady Cinder standing in front of him.

"Oh God!" Sonic uttered "You're still following me?"

"Do you have _any_ idea what you've done?" Cinder growled

"I did not do anything," Sonic said "I may have _allowed _something to happen, but I myself did nothing."

Cinder stared at him with a deadpan look.

"I'm a teenager," Sonic asserted "I have urges!"

Cinder rolled her eyes.

"The machine is gone." Sonic said

"I know," Cinder sighed "that's why I'm here."

"My evil must've of taken it," Sonic said "I have to find him."

He tried to leave the room, but Cinder would not let him.

"It's not the dark side you have to worry about at this moment," Cinder informed "he didn't take it for himself."

"Well if not for himself," Sonic asked "then for who?"

"Two words," the hedgehog queen stated "Status Unknown."

"Status..." Sonic thought

It did not take long for him to realize what that meant.

"Why?" he muttered

* * *

><p>Status Unknown, anyone who read True Origins will get it.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 6

Now the real story begins.

* * *

><p>"Blaze!" Sonic yelled, shaking her "Wake up!"<p>

She opened her eyes.

"What?" she responded "Whoa, did we fall asleep?"

"We have a massive problem!" the blue hedgehog stated blatantly

"Calm down," Blaze said "just tell me what's wrong."

"My evil half stole the machine," Sonic informed her "and now my mother has it and she's going to exterminate the entire human race!"

Cinder calmly walked down the stairs.

"Are you sure?" the cat princess asked Sonic

"Yes." Cinder stated

"I have to stop this!" Sonic said frantically

He raced out the door.

"Do you even know where to go?" Cinder called after him

Sonic returned to the house as quickly as he left.

"No." he said

Suddenly, Caligo warped into the room.

"Sonic!" Caligo yelled

"Caligo?" Sonic responded

"Caligo?" Cinder responded in equal confusion

"Madam?" Caligo utterd

"What is it?" Sonic questioned

"TV!" Caligo advised "Turn on the TV, right now!"

Sonic did so, and all he saw was static, then black and green, then the image of a middle-aged hedgehog woman. Her quills(or fur, whichever) were azure, and she had wild and neglected amethyst purplr hair. She had the most piercing, bloodshot, emerald green eyes, that were so visibly full of pent-up rage it was nerve-wracking.

It was Celerity Hedgehog, maiden name Swift(I decided to change her maiden name because I thought it would sound better).

"Oh my god," Sonic uttered "it's her, that is my mother!"

"Oy," Cinder groaned "she has not been good to herself."

"You know her?" Sonic asked Cinder

"Long story." Cinder stated

"_Species of Earth,_" Celerity spoke, her voiced trembling with a slight growl "_heed this crucial announcement, my name is Celerity Hedgehog, a well known scientist and inventer, far superior than that inferior Robotnik clan. In twenty-four hours, the entire human race will be wiped off the face of this planet; all you non-human species will bow to me as your new queen, and pay for the execution of my...dearest...husband. My only advice...brace yourselves, for there is NOTHING_ _you can do to stop me._" Celerity closed her eyes and whispered "_Oh...F__irebolt_."

* * *

><p>Don't know why, but it seems easier to come up with female villains than male ones...I think that's saying something.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 7

More stuff.

* * *

><p>Later on, Cinder and Caligo disappeared again to investigate the situation, and eventually the whole gang was at Sonic's house, watching the television as Celerity's message played over and over. It was almost like the Eclipse Cannon fiasco all over again.<p>

"Okay," Shadow voiced, being the first one to speak in over an hour, "we've watched this several time, perhaps now we could start looking into a plan?"

"Well," Silver responded, "it's not that easy to think of a plan when you have little to no options at the moment."

"He's right," Tails said, "we don't even know where she is."

"Somewhere where she's able to broadcast all over the place." Knuckles said.

They watched Celerity's message play over again.

"From what I can see, she appears to be outside." Shadow said.

They glanced over at Sonic, who was completely silent, just staring at the screen in awe. On top of that, he was not blinking or breathing, which just did not look normal.

"Sonic," Silver spoke, trying to get the blur hedgehog to react, "Sonic. Breathe, blink, do something."

Sonic still did not respond.

"Observe." Shadow told Silver.

The red and black hedgehog brought his hand back and whacked Sonic so hard upside his head he nearly fell over.

"Nah!" Sonic responded, "Sorry, I'm still trying to adjust to this whole thing."

"Who is that woman?" Tails wondered.

"That's my...m-mom, Tails." Sonic answered.

"Wait, _that's _your mom?" Silver responded, "How can that be?"

"Trust me," Sonic said, "from what I've seen recently, I can't say nothing about it."

Silver looked back at the t.v. screen.

"Oh that's right," Amy uttered thoughtlessly, "you found out that your parents were genocidal, psycho masterminds."

Amy's utterance caused a painfully awkward silence.

"I think perhaps you shouldn't talk as much," Shadow advised the pink hedgehog, "and if you have to say something, word it carefully."

Amy looked around and sensed the tension.

"Okay." she said meekly.

She then sat down on the couch, while the rest continued to contemplate a plan.

"I didn't know _she_ was still alive," Sonic said, "the bio I found on her listed her status as "Unknown"."

"Well," Shadow stated, ""Unknown" doesn't mean "Dead"."

"I know," Sonic sighed, "but, the fact that she's just made herself known so quickly...it just feels too convenient to be a coincidence."

Just then, the dark voice returned to his head again.

"_Not a coincident_," the voice stated, "_why else do you think **I** am here_?"

Shadow noticed Sonic staring blankly off into space.

"Sonic?" Shadow said, trying to get the blue hedgehog's attention, "Sonic. Sonic!"

Sonic snapped back into reality.

"If y'all could just wait here for a sec," he said awkwardly, "I need to go...think."

The blue hero ran outside, leaving his team confused and curious.

Sonic sat down on the ground, absorbed in his thoughts.

"What's going on?" he thought, "Is _she _making me see and hear all this evil stuff? Ugh, I don't get it."

"Sonic." someone said.

Sonic got up and turned around, finding Lady Cinder standing behind him.

"Oh, you're back," he replied meekly, "what now?"

Cinder smirked proudly, the same way Shadow (occasionally) would.

"I found her." the hedgehog queen stated.

* * *

><p>Oy, finally I got another chapter done.<p>

Sorry it took so long, got a lot of stuff in the works.


	8. Chapter 8

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 8

Still going.

* * *

><p>Sonic was trying to piece together what Queen Cinder had just told him, regarding the situation with his mother.<p>

"Okay, so let me see if I got this right," Sonic asked, "she's in the Mystic Ruins, on Red Mountain, and using her machine to broadcast her message all over the world?"

"That's the basic part." Cinder said.

"What's the not-so-basic part?" Sonic wondered.

"She's found a power source that powers the machine just enough to do small things, like give her broadcast," Cinder explained, "but she's still looking for a power source strong enough to have her machine do what she's been plotting all these years."

"you mean the human genocide." Sonic groaned.

Cinder responded with a nod.

"What does she have as a power source right now?" Sonic asked.

"...Chaos Emeralds," the queen answered, "all of the Chaos Emeralds."

The answer threw Sonic off completely.

"She has _all_ the Chaos Emeralds," he responded, "and she needs something stronger than_ those_ to...fulfill her dream? What stronger than those does she intend to get?"

"Do you know of anything stronger than the Chaos Emeralds?" Cinder offered.

Sonic thought for a second.

"U-oh..." he gasped weakly.

"Before you depart, I have one suggestion for the time being," Cinder said, "leave your youngest members at home, this is not a situation you want them to get involved in."

Sonic nodded anxiously before going back inside, where the others were waiting.

"Hey." he said casually.

"What's going on?" Silver asked.

"Knuckles..." Sonic asked stiffly, "where is the Master Emerald at this very moment?"

"At the altar of course." the red echidna answered.

"Then we better get to the Mystic Ruins as soon as possible," Sonic said.

"Why?" Blaze asked.

"Because that happens to be where my...m-mother...is," the blue hedgehog answered, "she's looking for a power source to make her machine strong enough to wipe out the humans."

"Well then we better get going." Shadow affirmed.

"Right," Sonic said, "however, Cream & Cheese, Tails, and Amy should stay behind."

That did not sit well with the younger group members.

"Us? Stay behind?" Tails wondered, "Why?"

"Because," Sonic said awkwardly, "this apparently is something you don't wanna get involved with, lotta danger and stuff."

"But...we've been there during dangerous stuff before." Tails stated.

"I know," Sonic said, "but we just need to get this whole thing figured out before you guys get involved in any way...trust me."

Of course, Amy was the one who had to really protest.

"But, Sonic..." she spoke in her usual whiny tone.

"Oh here it comes." Silver groaned.

"I don't wanna stay behind," Amy whined, "I wanna go with you!"

"Of course you do," Sonic said, trying hard to remain polite, "but there's no telling what's gonna happen, and besides, you don't wanna leave Cream, do you?"

Amy looked at the little bunny girl looking at her curiously with her big brown eyes.

"She needs you, Amy." Sonic whispered into the pink hedgehog girls ear.

Amy thought about it.

"You're right!" she affirmed, "Okay, I'll stay here, while you guys go."

Sonic nodded.

"Smoothe." Silver said quietly to Sonic.

"I honestly didn't think it would work." Sonic responded.

Tails looked around.

"Sonic, honestly," Tails questioned, "what is so bad about this situation that sets it apart from every other disaster we've faced."

"Because, this one is rather...personal," Sonic told him, "things may happen that I don't want you to see."

Tails still looked unsure.

"Trust me," Sonic said, "I'll take care of what I need to take care of, you help hold down the fort here, in case anything beyond comprehending happens here. Can you do that?"

Tails did not respond verbally, he just hugged the blue hedgehog tightly. Sonic pat the young fox on the head before he reluctantly let go.

"Okay," Sonic said awkwardly, "everyone else...Mystic Ruins, let's go."

Sonic led the older group members out, while the younger ones stayed behind, watching as they left.

* * *

><p>Okay, I'm thinking the next chapter is when stuff will actually start happening.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 9

Still going.

* * *

><p>Sonic and his older pals arrived at the Mystic Ruins, making their way toward Red Mountain.<p>

"Too bad we don't have any of the emeralds," Shadow stated, "we coulda just warped there."

"It's not that far away now," Sonic said, "we just need to get to the top of the mountain before...bad things happen."

Just then, they saw a green energy beam shoot upward into the sky from the top of Red Mountain.

"Time to run!" Sonic uttered.

He then sped off to the mountain.

"Sonic," Shadow called, running after him, "wait up!"

The rest followed, though they could not keep up the same pace as the other two hedgehogs.

When Shadow caught up with Sonic, the blue hedgehog had stopped at the base of Red Mountain, thinking about what to do next.

"Sonic," Shadow voiced, "slow down, do you even have a plan for when you finally get up there?"

"No!" Sonic expressed, "I have no idea what I'm going to do, I have no idea how to go about this! She could have obstacles or traps up there, she could kill us on sight!"

"She can't be all that powerful." Shadow stated.

"She has a machine that can do _anything,_" Sonic said, "there's no telling what she'll do."

He tensely ran his hands through his quills.

"Plus, she's my...m-mother...," Sonic groaned, "that might get weird."

"Wow," Shadow said, "I've never actually seen you this nervous before. In fact, I've never seen you visibly nervous at all before."

"Can you really blame me?" Sonic responded, "I have to prevent a genocide of the entire human population that's about to be executed by my own mother, HOW CAN I NOT BE NERVOUS!?"

The black and red hedgehog slapped him across the face, changing his tone instantly.

"Better?" Shadow asked.

"A little bit." Sonic replied meekly.

"Now let's go," Shadow said, then asked, "should I go ahead or do you wanna go in front?"

Sonic looked up uncertainly at the mountain top.

"I-I'll go," he said awkwardly, "it is more of my problem anyway."

He started up the mountain.

"Technically it's everyone's problem," Shadow said, "but if you're talking personally then well, yeah it is more of your problem."

Just then, the rest of the group caught up with them.

"Hold on guys," Silver called, "we're coming."

"Just in time," Shadow said, "Sonic's leading the way."

He looked up at Sonic, who was standing on a rock, looking up the mountain. Various thoughts and feelings ran through the blue hedgehogs mind, he almost felt like turning back, however, his way was blocked by Shadow and the others.

"Go on, hero," Shadow urged, "we're right behind you."

"Okay." Sonic said breathlessly, trying to remain cool. "_Be cool, Sonic,_" he thought to himself, "_you've dealt with villains and psycho's before, don't let the fact that she your porking **mother **distract you from what you gotta do."_

* * *

><p>I have limits to what swear words I will use in writing, like I do not mind using mild swear words (Hell, Damn, stuff like that), but I can never bring myself to use the "F word" or the "C word", so I will try to use a different word for them.<p>

Anyway, more later.


	10. Chapter 10

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 10

Still going.

* * *

><p>Up on the top of Red Mountain, the middle-aged, female hedgehog, known as Celerity, shut down her machine, realizing that her new power source was still not enough to power the machine. It was an enormous green gem she had "borrowed" from some stone altar that had been left unguarded.<p>

"Stupid gem," she growled, "hardly worth the stone it stood on."

Celerity shoved the gem off to the side with the last failed power sources, the Chaos Emeralds, away from her precious machine.

"Nothing on this planet seems strong enough to power my darling device," Celerity sighed, "but, luckily I have a plan B waiting back at my place, and it'll work, just as soon as I find my key resource."

She then started kicking the Chaos Emeralds down the side of the mountain.

"Stupid, worthless, gravel!" Celerity huffed.

At that same time, Sonic and company were still making their way up the side of the mountain, when one of the emeralds Celerity had disposed of rolled to Sonic's feet. He picked it up and looked at it closely, noticing how weak it looked.

Shadow got in for a closer look.

"Yeah," he said, "you can tell these have been used."

They heard a loud crash, and when the two hedgehogs looked up, they saw the giant green emerald that had also failed Celerity laying against a large rock. The hedgehog woman had disposed of it as well.

"Uh...Knuckles." Sonic called.

The red echidna pulled his way up and saw what they saw, and he was not happy.

"The Master Emerald!?" Knuckles uttered, "She used the Master Emerald!? How did she get that!?"

Rouge looked up as well.

"Wow," she said to the echidna, "you are a _terrible _guardian."

"Ahh, shut up." Knuckles groaned in response.

"Well," Sonic said, "at least I have a faster way up the mountain now. See if you can find anymore of the emeralds."

"After you." Shadow stated.

Up on the top of the mountain, Celerity was looking out to the horizon, standing next to her machine. Various memories ran through her mind, primarily of her late husband, Firebolt, who was killed after they were caught trying to execute their plan almost sixteen years ago.

Celerity growled quietly, whimpering her husband's name.

"Nothing will stop it this time," she told herself, "I _will _bring my husband back, I _will_ get my son to my side, and I _will_ obliterate the human race!"

Just then she heard a disturbance behind her, when she turned around, she found a blue male hedgehog standing behind her; at first glance he looked almost exactly like her husband. Celerity rubbed her eyes to get an accurate look at the hedgehog, and found that it was younger male. From his deep blue quills and his emerald-green eyes, she knew who it was.

"Son." she said docilely.

"M-Mom." Sonic said in a more unnerved tone.

They stared at each other for several seconds; Sonic could tell that Celerity was a woman who had seen some stuff in her life, a dark and agonized soul, bent on making innocent people suffer for her own satisfaction. It disturbed him greatly. However, Celerity could sense a great amount of innocence in her son's soul...it disgusted her, it was one thing she was determined to change.

"You've...grown...a lot." Celerity stated.

Sonic looked down, wanting to avoid eye contact with her.

"That's what happens when several years pass." he replied, trying to repress his anxiety.

Celerity then started to approach the young hedgehog and Sonic just stood there, not sure what to do. Up close, Sonic found that Celerity, just like Lady Cinder, was as tall as Vanilla the Rabbit, meaning that she could stare him down, which she did.

"Just let me look at you." she said, putting her hands on her son's face and forcing him to look at her. Looking into his unstable mother's eyes, which were the same as his own, Sonic felt as though he was being stared down by Medusa, as he stood petrified in place. "Yeah..." Celerity said, "you look exactly like your father...but with _my _eyes."

Sonic had a difficult time finding the right words to respond with.

"Th-That's how n-nature works." he said awkwardly.

The blue hedgehog shut his eyes tightly and within moments his heroic instincts to return to him. Sonic forcefully pulled himself from Celerity's grasp.

"I know everything!" he affirmed, "I know what you've done and what you're trying to do!"

"Trust me, Sonic," Celerity replied, "I know all about you as well, a hero, how unfortunate. Although, it's not your fault, you just got led down the wrong path during your childhood; but, that can be fixed, it's never too late to join your rightful alignment."

Sonic looked on warily.

"Come on, son," the adult hedgehog woman urged, "embrace the darkness, you were meant to kill and destroy, not rescue and rebuild."

"I-I-" Sonic replied tensely, "I don't...I don't believe that! That can't be right."

"Think about it, boy," Celerity voiced, "do you really think you were blessed with all that power so you could _protect the world_? All that speed, that strength, that godlike super form? You think that was all meant for _heroics_? Oh, sweetie, you are so lost."

Her claims seemed outrageous, Sonic would never believe that he was meant for anything other than what he had been doing all his life, although a very small part of him wondered if Celerity's words rang true. But, Sonic tried to put a logical sense on those thoughts.

"Well..." he responded, "you're evil, and most likely insane, so how can I believe that anything you say is true?"

"Surely you've experienced something before that made you question your lifestyle," Celerity offered, "an experience? A dream perhaps? Or maybe an encounter with negative Chaos Power?"

Sonic had felt all that before, however the encounter with negative Chaos Power happened with fake Chaos Emeralds, so he figured that did not count.

"Well, regardless of what I've seen and felt," Sonic said, "I don't question my alignment; I am good, and you're bad, and I'm not gonna let you destroy the human race!"

Just then, Shadow showed up, via Chaos Control.

"Sonic?" he called.

Right then, Celerity's eyes widened.

"No way, are you kidding me?" she said in odd astonishment.

"Oh God," Shadow said to Sonic, "she looks like a half-dead mental patient."

"Shhh!" Sonic hissed.

Celerity snickered as she felt her plan fall together so perfectly right in front of her.

"Not only has my son comes right to me," she voiced, "but he has brought with him my key resource, this is perfect!"

"Key resource?" Shadow responded, "What is she raving on about?"

Sonic shrugged cluelessly.

"I have the ultimate power source waiting for me back at my lair," Celerity explained, "guaranteed to power this device to its full potential, however, it won't work without the proper provocation."

The young hedgehogs could only watch as she went on, trying to understand her words.

"Which is why _you_," Celerity proclaimed, pointing at Shadow, "are coming with me."

"Okay," Sonic replied to his mad crazy mother, "your mind is officially wrecked."

"No more talking," Shadow groaned, "let's just waste this unhinged savage already."

He launched a Chaos Spear attack at Celerity, but she dodged it easily, moving at an incredible speed, just like Sonic. However, Celerity moved so fast she created fierce shockwaves, which made it hard for the younger hedgehogs to stay on their feet.

"Agh, now I see where I get it." Sonic grunted.

They tried again and again to use their special attacks on the hedgehog woman, but she moved so fast, she just dodged everything. Soon she disappeared from sight.

"Holy snot," Sonic said, looking around anxiously, "where'd she go?"

Shadow looked around too, until he was grabbed from behind by Celerity.

"You. Come. With. Me!" Celerity growled.

"Don't touch me!" Shadow yelled, elbowing the hedgehog woman in the ribs.

"Stop!" Sonic yelled.

But, when he tried to act, Celerity threw out her hand and somehow made part of the mountain rise around him, making him drop the Chaos Emerald he had, keeping him from intervening.

Shadow broke away from Celerity, and when she grabbed him again, he head-butted her in the face. As he fought, though, Shadow found that Celerity was unnaturally strong as she grasped his wrist so tightly he felt them crack.

"Leave me alone!" Shadow snarled, trying to pull away, which only made Celerity tightened her grasp.

Sonic tried to break out of the stone barrier around him, but he had no room to go fast enough to do so. He looked through an opening between the rocks to see what was happening.

"Shadow," Sonic called out, "use your Chaos Emerald!"

Before Shadow could do anything, Celerity took the emerald from him.

"This?" she voiced, "You think _this _is going to help? You boys have no idea what I am capable of, it's gonna take a lot more than those stupid emeralds to take me."

Suddenly, the mountain top began to shake and blinding light washed over the surface, knocking Celerity out, freeing Shadow from her grasp, and freeing sonic from the stones that encased him.

"I have no idea what that was," Shadow said, "but it was convenient."

"Yeah, that it was," Sonic replied, "are you okay?"

"Aside from a sweaty wrist," Shadow returned, "I'll live. That was weird though, she is really strong, stronger than she probably should be."

"It's that machine," Sonic said, "it's gotta be."

As they talked, they failed to notice Celerity as she crawled over to her machine, deactivated it to its cube form, and then crawled away unnoticed, muttering, "This isn't over."

Only after she was gone did the other two notice that she got away.

"Oh great, she got away." Sonic groaned.

"We'll find her again, if she can't activate her new power source, the machine won't be powerful enough for her to do what she was gonna do." Shadow said, "What I wanna know is, what is this "power source" she has, and why does she need _me_ to make it work?"

"I don't know," Sonic sighed, "but, maybe I should take care of this alone."

Shadow looked at him like he was stupid.

"Cute...but, no." he said bluntly."

"I'm serious," Sonic expressed, "she's _my mother_, I should be the one taking care of this."

"I think we cleared this up before," Shadow replied, "this concerns_ everyone_, besides, I don't remember_ you_ standing down when Black Doom and the Black Arms attacked earth."

"What does that have to do with..." Sonic started to ask, before realizing what Shadow meant, "...ohh...right."

"I'm gonna go find the others," Shadow said.

"I'll try to find where the other Chaos Emeralds fell." Sonic said.

* * *

><p>I doubt that many more chapters will get this long.<p>

This segment will finish in the next chapter, because I did not want to make this chapter any longer.


	11. Chapter 11

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 11

Moving on.

* * *

><p>After his first confrontation with his mother, Sonic was walking around the mountain side, looking for the rest of the Chaos Emeralds Celerity had discarded.<p>

Just then, something appeared in front of him, he looked up and found Queen Cinder standing in front of him.

"I assume you're looking for these." she said, revealing the Chaos Emeralds in her hands.

"Yeah," Sonic replied, "how'd you find those?"

"Easily." Cinder stated.

A thought suddenly came to Sonic's mind.

"Was it you that caused that weird disturbance that chased my mom off?" he asked.

Cinder nodded.

"I originally was going to show up later on," she said, "but it's probably a good thing I didn't wait."

"Yeah, no kidding," Sonic replied, "I've never seen anyone move like that, I don't think I can even move like that, at least not all at once."

"I'm more concerned with this new power source Cel has." Cinder said.

"Yeah," Sonic said, "I don't know what it is, but she for some reason tried to get Shadow to power it. But why would she need another person to make the source work?"

Cinder thought about it, she had a hunch, but she prayed she was wrong.

"I have a theory," she said, "but I'll have to look into it; and remember, be careful as you go, Sonic, because next time I might not be there to intervene."

With that, she left and Sonic returned the emeralds to their rightful place. There were only six emeralds present, but that was only because Shadow still had the one, which he used to take the others home.

Sonic returned to his own home and found Tails still waiting there.

"Sonic," he asked excitedly, "what happened? Did you stop her?"

"For now, but she'll be back." Sonic sighed.

"Well, did you find out what's happening with the shadows?" Tails asked.

Sonic realized that he had completely forgotten about that part.

"Not yet." he said, "I'm gonna go...I don't know, run, maybe."

Then he went outside.

Sonic started walking down the path away from his house and gradually began to pick up speed. Before long, he was running at half his maximum speed, one thought after another going through his mind. As he ran, deep in thought, he closed his eyes, various dark and gruesome images flashing through his mind. Unfortunately, with his eyes closed, he had no idea where he was going, and ended up running straight into a tree, winding up on the ground all sprawled out.

"...Oww." he groaned softly.

"Sonic?" he soon heard, "Are you good?"

Sonic looked up into two brilliant orbs of yellow, he blinked a couple of times to focus his vision. It was Blaze.

"Blaze?" Sonic responded, quickly jumping to his feet, "Hey; yeah, I'm good, I just...wasn't paying attention."

"I imagine it would be hard to hold your concentration," Blaze said, "given everything that's going on right now. It...can't be easy...finding out that the ones who gave you life...are on the opposite alignment."

"Yeah, it was weird," Sonic sighed, "she really didn't like that fact that I am a hero and not a wrongdoer."

Blaze was not really sure what to say next, she wondered what exactly was on the hedgehog's mind, how does one react when they find out that their parents are not who they thought were and that they are against your lifestyle as you are with theirs?

"So...what are you gonna do next?" she asked.

"Wait to see when she shows up again," Sonic said uncertainly, "there's not really a lot I can do right now."

Blaze nodded and put her hand on his shoulder.

"I know the situation seems complicated right now," she said, "but it'll get better, it has too."

Sonic smiled and nodded, then he glanced at the cat's hand on his shoulder, bringing an unrelated thought to his mind.

"Speaking of...complicated situations," Sonic voiced awkwardly as he gently removed her hand form his shoulder, "the other day, when we were hanging out, and we started..."caressing"...until we fell asleep..."

"Y-Yeah." Blaze replied meekly.

"What-uh...how did that happen?" the blue hedgehog wondered, "I mean, we aren't dating, we've never been affectionate with each other, the most we have done is worked together to save our worlds from evil. We make a great team."

Blaze looked down at her feet.

"Where are you going with this?" she asked timidly.

"I'm saying...that I wish our interaction wasn't limited to just teaming up against scumbags," Sonic expressed, "it would be nice to hang out while were not fighting someone or trying to thwart an evil plot for once."

The cat princess looked up as the hedgehog looked to the ground, the look in his eyes told her that he was in need of some much needed solace.

"Well," she voiced, "we're not fighting anyone right now and yet we are interacting."

Sonic looked up.

Blaze looked down the path in front of them and gestured toward the horizon.

"You..." she offered, "uh, you wanna go for a walk?"

Sonic looked ahead, a walk sounded pretty good; he felt that he was not in the right state of mind to run anyway after what had just happened a moment ago.

"I could walk." he stated.

The two then proceeded to walk down the wooded path, hoping for as much free time as possible before Celerity struck again.

* * *

><p>I realized that I had been lagging on the Sonaze I had aimed to work with, so I decided it was time for some more Sonaze. I will try to keep it from slowing the story down though, as this is not a complete romance fic.<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 12

More stuff.

* * *

><p>Sonic and Blaze continued walking down the wooded path, trying to enjoy the free time before Celerity struck again. Sonic kept his head down as he walked, not saying anything.<p>

"Fair weather we have today," Blaze said, "very little sun, but at least it's not sweltering hot or freezing cold."

"It's okay." Sonic replied solemnly.

No matter how hard he tried to enjoy the moment, a moment that he probably would not get to have again for long time, he just could not get his mind off what was going on. Knowing that his new enemy, his own mother, was still out there and planning her next attack. Added with the fact that Celerity's words still echoed throughout his mind.

_"It's never too late to join your rightful alignment."_

_"You were meant to kill and destroy not rescue and rebuild"_

_"All that speed, that strength, that godlike super form? You think that was meant for heroics?"_

_"You are so lost."_

Sonic closed his eyes and tapped his fingers against his head in an attempt to stifle Celerity's nagging words.

"This is new to me," Sonic laughed, trying to shroud his uneasiness, "I normally don't think too much about these villain situations."

"Well, I suppose it's different if the villain is related to you." Blaze replied.

"Yeah," Sonic said, his composed façade waning as he spoke, "that is...that is pretty...pretty messed up, right?"

Blaze could tell that the hero was trying so hard to maintain his cool demeanor, though she could clearly see that he was troubled by the whole thing.

"It's understandable to be upset by this kind of situation, Sonic." Blaze said considerately.

"I get it," Sonic said awkwardly, "but I'm good, honestly."

Blaze did not know what else to say, so she just responded with a nod.

"Just wondering what could possibly done." Sonic sighed.

The cat princess reached over and slowly took the heroic hedgehog's hand into her own.

"Don't worry," she said placidly, gently stroking his hand with her thumb, "we'll figure something out, everything's going to be okay."

Sonic looked at her and could not help but smile from seeing look of certainty in her beautiful golden eyes.

"I trust you." he said calmly, wrapping his thumb and fingers around her hand.

* * *

><p>Hours later, night had fallen and everybody was in their homes; as the sun was setting, the sky began to cloud over as a forecasted storm approached.<p>

At the home of Sonic and Tails, Sonic was already in bed, trying to go to sleep.

However, Tails was in his lab; he had the Chaos Emeralds locked up in a container that would keep them safe until they returned to their full power.

"There," the young fox said to himself, "that should keep them safe for now."

He heard the door open and looking back he found Sonic standing in the doorway at the top of the stairwell leading down into the lab.

"Tails," Sonic called, "are you still down here?"

"Yeah," Tails answered, "I'm just getting done."

"Come on," Sonic said, "it's late, you should get to bed now."

Normally, he was not concerned with how late Tails stayed up, as he usually went to bed before midnight. But, ever since his encounter with Celerity, he had the uneasy feeling that something bad could happen any moment. The feeling made him not want to leave his young friend alone for too long.

Sonic returned to his room and tried once again to go to sleep, but of course it could not be that simple. As he closed his eyes to drift off, he heard the voice of his mother suddenly ring in his head.

_"Sleep tight, darling," she said in sweet, yet eerie tone, "I will see you in the morning." _Following up with a sinister snicker.

* * *

><p>Alright, new chapter.<p>

I swear, I will finish this story before deleting; however, I cannot promise the same for all my other stories.


	13. Chapter 13

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 13

Still moving on.

* * *

><p>6:00 a.m. in the morning, the sun was barely coming up, though the sky was moderately heavy, and of course everyone was still asleep.<p>

At the home of Rouge and Shadow, the partners in government affiliation were sound asleep in their respective beds, just as everyone else was. Shadow was sleeping, their room very dim due to them sleeping with the door shut and the curtains closed.

As the black and red hedgehog and the white bat slept, Shadow and Rouge was completely unaware of the threat that began to occur in their room. The darkness of the room began to manifest into a separate, sapient entity. The entity reached over and very slowly pulled Shadow's covers off; Shadow was still unaware of what was going on, until he changed his position and realized that he was no longer covered. At that moment, he opened his eyes halfway, seeing nothing but the usual darkness in his and Rouge's room.

"Wha?" he voiced groggily.

Suddenly, he felt something pull at him; he sat up to look around, but he saw nothing and no one other than Rouge, who was still asleep, in the room. Shrugging it off, Shadow laid back down and tried to go back to sleep. But a moment later, the dark entity tried again, this time it slammed its hand over the young hedgehog's mouth and yanked him out of bed and onto the floor. Reacting quickly, Shadow grabbed the window curtain and pulled it off of the pole, letting in enough light to make the shady creature visible. Realizing it was caught, the entity let out a feminine snicker, which sounded almost identical to one he heard just the other day.

"You watch, young Shadow," the entity voiced eerily as it vanished, "soon enough, you'll be in my possession."

"Was that...?" Shadow mused quietly, "No way..."

Just then Rouge woke up.

"Shadow," she asked frantically, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Shadow replied, standing up.

Rouge looked up and saw an odd sight outside, so bizarre it made her gasp.

"Shadow, look outside." the white-furred bat directed, pointing at the window.

Shadow looked out the window, and saw the sky, overcast with dark clouds, pouring down black hail and some mystery substance. The odd black substance that rained down stuck immediately to any solid surface it hit, including Shadow's window.

"Oh my sweet Christ!" Shadow murmured in disbelief.

"I'll go make the phone calls!" Rouge uttered.

As she left the room, Shadow continued watching the ominous weather outside, until a mass of black goo splattered against his window, covered a majority of it up.

"Ugh," he groaned, "not right!"

Then he left the room as well.

**~Sonic & Tails House~**

Sonic was still lying in bad asleep, when suddenly, a newly heard voice sounded in his head.

"_Sooo-niiic..._"

It was Celerity.

"No." Sonic mumbled as he tossed in his sleep.

"_Time to wake up, sweetie, it's...morning. Ha ha ha ha ha ha..._"

Sonic opened his eyes and sat up in bed immediately.

"Sonic!" he heard, this time from Tails, who had come to his doorway with their home-phone in hand.

"What?" Sonic responded in a dazed and shocked tone.

"Rouge just called," Tails informed, "she said to look outside."

The blue hedgehog raced to his bedroom window and cast up the shade to look outside; Sonic's eyes instantly widened at the sight of the eerie weather conditions. Several puddles of black ooze covered their yard, while the hail was sticking to just about everything.

"Oh no!" he gasped.

"What's going on?" Tails wondered, "What is that stuff?"

"Hold on, I'm gonna go look," Sonic said, "stay in here."

He ran outside, and found the air to be hot and humid, with a slight chill in the mix. Sonic was glad, though puzzled, when he noticed that no matter where the dark goo landed it never hit him. Though, he did have to deal with the black hail, or whatever it was, that kept bouncing off of him on contact.

Sonic carefully knelt down and touched some of the black stuff, it was runny yet it had a thickness to it, sort of like printing ink **(Not PRINTER ink, ink used to make decorative prints)**. "What is this?" the blue hedgehog murmured.

Then, once again, he heard his mother's voice.

"_What do you think all those shadows were used for, son?"_

"Enough!" Sonic uttered aloud, "If you're going to continue this harassment, then come do it to my face...mom!"

Just then, Tails came to his side.

"Sonic," he asked, "what's going on?"

"Tails," Sonic replied, "I told you to stay in the house!"

It was then that more of the gang showed up.

Amy, Cream & Cheese, Knuckles, the Chaotix, Rouge, and Shadow all ran up to Sonic's yard.

"We'd ask what was going on," Shadow said, "but I think we're all pretty well aware of what's happening."

"This black slop is bringing some disgusting creatures with it," Knuckles informed, "they're snatching up people all over the place!"

Sonic then noticed that Cream was crying.

"Cream," he asked anxiously, "what's wrong?"

"My mother is gone!" Cream wailed, "I was sleeping when Mother woke me up and said their was a bad storm outside, not like a regular storm, a weird and scary one. I was looking out the window when I heard Mother scream, and when I turned around I saw her get taken away by these scary dark things that pulled her into the ground! I tried so hard to save Mother, honest I did, but they were too strong!" The little bunny girl continued to sob bitterly.

Though he had no part in it whatsoever, Sonic felt immense guilt, as if it were all his fault.

"I...I-I'm so sorry..." he said solemnly.

"W-Why?" Cream sniffed, "It's not your fault Mr. Sonic."

She then ran up o him and grabbed his arms.

"We'll save Mother won't we?" she implored, "Oh, please, please, promise, we'll save my mother!"

Normally Sonic usually countered somebody's distress with an optimistic response, however, given the circumstance of this particular situation, there was no room for high hopes. As the young bunny looked up at him with wide, anxious eyes, he said the only thing he could bring himself to say.

"I'll...try." he said uncertainly.

Despite the bleak tone he used, the innocent mind of young Cream took this as a positive response.

"Oh thank you, Sonic!" she cried as she and Cheese hugged the blue hedgehog tightly, "I know you won't let us down."

Sonic hesitantly put his arms around her.

"Yeah," he said meekly, "we'll find your mother."

Sonic then looked up and high in the sky, he spotted his mother, Celerity, standing on a mass of storm clouds. When he made eye contact with her, he saw a look of provocation in her malicious gaze.

"But, first," he whispered, "I'll have to stop mine."

* * *

><p>There, another chapter up.<p> 


	14. Chapter 14

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 14

Moving on.

**Pointless Note:** The basis behind this fic is my many speculations on the Sonic series and things I would like to see in the Sonic games, mainly Sonic's background in the game universe. Why is it that the characters have more detailed background in the comics than in the games? In the games, is Sonic an orphan or is there a reason his parents are never seen or mentioned?

* * *

><p>Sonic broke away from his friends, running a mile down the street, where he stopped and looked around. There was a wall of congealed darkness in front of him.<p>

"Where are you?" he called out, "I know you can hear me!"

Almost immediately he heard.

"Yes, Sonic," it was Celerity, "I can hear you loud and clear."

Sonic looked up and saw his mother casually walk out of the wall of black.

The blue hedgehog got down on his knees, feeling that if he had not he would have fallen over.

"Wh-What..." he struggled to ask, "what is this?"

"Innovation my child," Celerity said proudly as she walked in a circle around her hero son, "you are witnessing the start of a glorious empire, the empire of the almighty Hedgehogs, us hedgehogs, not all hedgehogs."

"You can't..." Sonic tried to say, but was so overwhelmed by the situation he could barely speak, "but...why? You really think you deserve to dominate the entire world?"

"Darling, it's our destiny," Celerity explained, "ever since the dawn of time my ancestor's as well as your father's conspired with each other with only one thing on their mind..."

"Power." Celerity and Sonic stated in unison.

"Yes," the demented hedgehog woman said, "it's that which brought your father and I together, and it's why you were born. With the bloodlines now combined, we can finally make the dreams of our forbearers a reality. The ancestors will be pleased, and we will be like gods."

It took a moment for everything to catch up with Sonic's mind as it all seemed so hard to believe.

"But...people...are going to...get hurt...yeah?" he voiced falteringly, "Humans...my friends..."

"The humans are doomed," Celerity said simply, "they're my only targets, but I won't hesitated to take out anyone who gets in my way, I won't lie. I will destroy the humans and only the humans, and if any non-humans happen to die as a result of unwisely stepping into the crossfire, then it's not my fault."

"Well...I'm not just gonna let you do this," Sonic said, "I'm gonna stop you, so I guess that means I'm dead, right?"

"Oh, son," Celerity said placidly, "you can't stop me, nobody can."

Sonic could not think of anything else to say, he could only scowl at her.

"It's much safer on _this _side." Celerity said, gesturing to herself and the curtain of darkness behind her.

"I'm not joining you," Sonic yelled, "I'm not evil!"

"You can't run from yourself forever, my boy," Celerity said, "you know what's in you, but you refuse to acknowledge it."

Sonic closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to ignore her.

Celerity rolled her eyes and grabbed her son, pulling him up off the ground.

"No! Let go!" Sonic uttered frantically, struggling in his mother's grasp.

"Pay attention," Celerity advised, tightening her grip on her son "because I'm about to prove a point."

Sonic stopped struggling, realizing that it was pointless.

Celerity looked at the curtain of darkness and gestured forward, as if she were directing someone. Right then, several dark figures took their place in front of them and proceeded to take the shape of the transformations Sonic had taken over the years. Dark Sonic, Werehog Sonic, and Darkspine Sonic.

"Look familiar?" Celerity asked.

"My...other forms." Sonic stated.

"Your _darkest_ forms, boy," Celerity said, "the most negative forms you know. You think these came to you by accident? Regardless of what circumstance brought about these dark forms, son, they've always been inside of you. Lying dormant until provoked by a negative force."

Then the Super Sonic form appeared.

"Super Sonic's not a dark form!" Sonic uttered, looking up at his mother.

"No, but he his one of your most powerful forms," Celerity explained, "in this form you have almost godlike power. Not just anybody is blessed with such great power, harboring such power is your birthright. As for your dark forms, well, to put it simply, that is the darkness that you have repressed. Do you really think you would have such dark forms if you were meant to be a (scoff) hero?"

Sonic did not know what to say.

"Admit it," Celerity said, "you felt great in these forms, you felt the urge to kill, destroy, and it felt great! You know you liked it, even if you did not want to feel it, you know you enjoyed the feeling while lasted!"

Sonic finally forced himself from his mother's hold, kneeling on the ground.

"You can't fight it forever," Celerity told him, "so you may as well accept it, embrace you dark, bloody roots."

Then, the figures of Sonic's dark forms began to circle him.

"_Don't fight it_." Darkspine Sonic hissed.

"_Accept it_." Werehog Sonic growled.

"_Embrace it_!" Dark Sonic demanded.

They continued to circle him, urging him to accept them as his true self.

"_Welcome us!_"

"_Accept us!"_

_"Relish us!_"

The continued harassing the troubled hero.

"No, no, no..." Sonic mumbled covering his ears with his hands.

"_Stop fighting it!_" Werehog Sonic snarled.

"_Give in to the villainy!_" Darkspine Sonic urged.

"_You know you want to!_" Dark Sonic laughed sinisterly.

"STOP IT!" Sonic cried, putting his head to the ground, "Stop! Stop! Leave me alone! I'm not like you!"

Suddenly it stopped, Sonic looked at Celerity, who looked frustrated.

"Ugh, enough for now," Celerity groaned, "but, don't worry, we'll talk more later."

She bid a sinister farewell to her son, before disappearing once again, taking the dark forms with her. Though the dark energy stayed behind.

Sonic flinched when he felt a hand touch his shoulder, he looked up and saw that it was only Lady Cinder.

"You come with me." she said.

"But, what about my friends?" Sonic replied meekly.

"We'll get them in a moment," Cinder said, "first, we need to talk, but we can't talk here."

"Okay." Sonic said, still feeling immensely disturbed.

Cinder got him to his feet, though Sonic did not show any clear sign of anxiety, she feel him trembling. For some reason, though they hardly looked alike and this was unlike his behavior, looking at Sonic, Cinder suddenly began to think of Shadow, her own son.

"Don't worry," she said softly, "I can't promise much, but, thing's will work out, it may take a while, but they will."

"I know." Sonic sighed, trying to get over what just happened.

"Come on," Cinder said urgently, placing a hand on the young hedgehog's shoulder, "let's get out of here."

She the led him away, all the while Sonic looked around, inhaling deeply and exhaling as he saw the sky get darker.

* * *

><p>I hope this is okay, people have been wanting to see Sonic's darker forms be mentioned, so I did. Honestly, I haven't read all of the comics, I haven't read any of those "Fleetway Comics" people have been mentioning, and I haven't played all of the games. I had Sonic and the Secret rings, but I got rid of it before I finished it because it frustrated me so much and I never finished Sonic Unleashed, though I've played a great deal of it.<p>

However, ever the Sonic fan I am, I will turn to the wiki for any info I need. For now, I hope people like what is happening.


	15. Chapter 15

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 15

Moving on.

I think people may be misinterpreting what is going on here, Sonic is not turning dark, he's trying like hell to fight it, but Celerity is trying make it hard as possible for him to do so. She's trying to use his past use of negative power against him and break his fighting spirit, hoping it will convince him to abandon his role as a hero and "embrace the dark side", believing that he was meant to be a villain, not a hero. Because, what better way to break someone down than by assaulting their psyche.

I'm not sure if that was confusing or not so I explained it just in case someone misread the situation.

* * *

><p>Using her Selenerix based power, Cinder opened a strange-looking door.<p>

"What's this?" Sonic asked.

"Celerity is all over the place here," Cinder explained, "the only place I guarantee she won't see or hear a word we say is outside the realm."

"Outside the realm?" Sonic responded.

Cinder nodded.

"Step through." she directed.

"I don't normally worry about this," Sonic voiced, "but...is it safe?"

"I...wouldn't be taking you through if it wasn't, dear." Cinder replied.

Sonic carefully stepped through the "doorway" and Cinder stepped through behind him. The place outside the ream was dark-colored and kind of cold.

"What's going on?" Sonic asked, the atmosphere around them making him shudder.

"Cel has a new power source, and I know what it is." Cinder said.

Sonic listened closely.

"I don't know how," Cinder said, "but, she...got ahold of my Selenerix Sapphires, the bi..." She looked at Sonic before finishing the sentence.

"Go ahead and say it," Sonic replied, "I can't really argue it."

Cinder did not finish what she was saying, she just moved on.

"This is bad." she stated.

"Are the Sapphires really that powerful?" Sonic asked.

"I know you were told," the hedgehog queen told him, "one of the Sapphires alone is more powerful alone than all of those seven Chaos Emerald things combined, she doesn't have all of them though." Cinder revealed that she was in possession of the one Selenerix Sapphire that Celerity had not gotten.

Sonic looked closely at the gem, it was indigo in color and had a powerful glow.

"Luckily she hasn't activated them yet." Cinder said.

"How do you know?" Sonic wondered.

"One, if they were activated, we definitely know," the queen voiced, "two, they only activate when in the presence of one with Ebonyte blood."

Sonic nodded in response.

"That's why I can't go get the Sapphires myself." Cinder sighed.

"That's probably why she's after Shadow." Sonic said.

Cinder growled quietly in response, glancing down at her Sapphire.

"Well, don't worry," Sonic affirmed, "I'll get your Sapphires back."

"Careful as you go, Sonic," Cinder cautioned, "Celerity is very tricky, she's an expert in traps and a master in torture, mental or physical, and I guarantee she will not go easy on you just because you're her son."

"I understand," Sonic sighed, "but, I have to try something, I've never backed down from a fight and I'm not gonna start now."

Cinder still looked unsure, but she nodded anyway.

"I just remembered," Sonic said, "I better go check on my friends."

"Very well," Cinder replied, "let's go back."

They went back through the "doorway".

"You go take care of your circle," Cinder said, "in the meantime, I'll deal with this...mess." She looked at the black goo that littered the ground with disgust.

Sonic gave a feeble salute and quickly raced back to his friends, while Cinder watched on.

Cinder saw a pile of black goo rise and come at here, but with a move of her hand, she tore the blob down and watched it dissolve into the concrete.

"Nice try, Cel." she scoffed.

The queen then proceeded to eradicate more masses of goo with her omnipotent abilities.

* * *

><p>Sonic returned to his friends, who had been waiting for him.<p>

"Something happen?" Tails asked.

"Nope," Sonic answered simply, "nah, nothing really. I was just looking around."

"Well," Knuckles asked, "what do we do?"

Sonic thought about it, he really did not want them to get involved with the situation.

"You guys stay together," Sonic said, "in the meantime, I have to do something."

"But, I can come too," Tails asked, "I can help, right? Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog shook his head with a solemn look, the response brought a look of utter disappointment on the young fox's face.

Sonic walked up to Shadow.

"Can you take charge while I'm gone, please?" Sonic implored quietly.

"I might consider it," Shadow replied, "if you explain what's going on and why you keep running off and telling everyone else to stay behind."

Sonic shrugged, not wanting to explain.

"What's there to get?" he voiced nonchalantly, "It's just...personal."

Without missing a beat Shadow said, "Sonic if you don't explain what's really going on, Silver's gonna read your mind, and we'll find out for ourselves."

Sonic looked back and saw Silver standing with the rest of the group.

"When did you get here?" Sonic asked.

"About five minutes before you ran back here." Silver stated.

He appeared to have his powers ready.

"What's wrong, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"Tell us." Amy prompted.

"We deserve to know." Knuckles said.

Sonic looked around at them all as they looked at him intently.

"Please, don't make me read your mind, Sonic," Silver expressed, "it'll look better if you just tell us what's going on."

"All right!" Sonic uttered, "I'll tell you, but only the important stuff."

Sonic then proceeded to give them a concise version of what was happening, leaving out certain elements, like Cinder's involvement and what his mother had told him.

"How did she get the Selenerix Sapphires?" Shadow questioned.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Sonic sighed.

Shadow looked down for a moment, then looked at Sonic.

"Well then," he said, "let's go get'em."

"But, Shadow..." Sonic tried to protest, knowing what would happen.

"Sonic," the black and red hedgehog replied, "I'm not afraid of her, I'm more worried about what she'll do if she gets a chance to do it."

Sonic sighed, knowing he could not stop him.

"I'm in." Silver said.

"Uh..." Sonic tried to respond.

"Me too." Knuckles said.

"You know I'm going too!" Tails announced.

It was clear that everyone wanted in.

"B-But..." Sonic stammered.

"It's unanimous, Sonic," Shadow said, "we're all doing this."

Sonic groaned as his plans to go in alone had now become a group effort, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Okay," he sighed, "let's go."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Cinder was still destroying Celerity's mess of darkness with her own powers.<p>

While Cinder did not notice, Celerity stepped out of her cloud of dark energy.

"I see the years of imprisonment hasn't fazed you one bit." Celerity voiced.

Upon hearing that, Cinder stopped what she was doing and slowly turned around with a deadpan expression on her regal face.

"Nah," she said dryly, "and I see the years of solitary widowhood hasn't hindered you...determination-wise."

Celerity smirked proudly.

"No," she snickered, "if anything, I think it's only pushed me more."

"Oh it pushed you alright," Cinder retorted, "right over the brink of insanity."

Celerity rolled her eyes.

"Why are you here?" Cinder questioned.

"Just with a simple little memo," Celerity attested, "stay away from my son."

Cinder scowled at her.

"_You_ stay away from _my _son!" she countered angrily.

"It doesn't work like that, Cin." Celerity scoffed.

"Go to hell!" Cinder uttered, "I'm sure Firebolt and all your guys' ancestors are eagerly waiting there for you."

Celerity walked up to Cinder, getting right in her face.

"If I go to hell," Celerity proclaimed, "I'm taking you down with me, besides, I'm sure Black Doom would like to see you again."

As soon as she said, Cinder spit right in here eye.

There was a moment of utter silence as Celerity slowly wiped her eye free of saliva.

"We'll finish this later," she sighed, "right now, I've got stuff to do."

With that, Celerity disappeared back into her veil of darkness.

Cinder herself walked off in the opposite direction, coolly ridding the area of more wicked, black goo as she went.

* * *

><p>Next chapter and onward, things will start to get weird.<p> 


	16. Chapter 16

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 16

Moving on.

Wow, I did not expect this story to get so many reviews, honestly, I thought I would get hate for making Sonic's parents evil, or making Sonic act so afraid.

I do not like how they make Sonic act now, especially in Lost World, I did not play it, but I saw a walkthrough and I am certain I will never buy it. I remember in Sonic Adventure 1, Sonic actually harbored a bit of common sense, which was clear in his speech about how just sealing Chaos away to end his destruction, was not the answer. But, in Lost World, Sonic's answer to everything was "just break it", why is Sega just NOW trying to make Sonic act like a clueless teenager? It is too late for that, if they wanted him to be like that, they should have started out with him acting like that and then make him mature over the course of the series, but they are doing backwards, why? It makes it look like his heroic nature is slipping.

Also, I do know about the Wisps and the Black Arms (I LOVED the Shadow the Hedgehog game); **let me remind the readers that this is a SEQUEL to a previous story, if you are confused about what is going on here, take a look back at the first story "True Origins", it sucks and it's pretty rushed towards the end, but it leads up to this.**

**Anyway, thanks to all for the helpful, if not exceptionally lengthy, reviews.**

* * *

><p>Sonic said nothing as he and his friends made their way to the center of the city, hoping to confront Celerity. Though, Sonic was immensely anxious, wishing his friends had stayed behind, as he feared for their safety.<p>

"I didn't think it was possible," Tails said, "but I think the sky has gotten darker."

"Yeah," Rouge said, "it almost looks like nighttime."

"Let's just try to remain very quiet for now." Sonic told them.

"Shouldn't we come up with a plan before we take any kind of action?" Silver asked.

"Honestly, I don't think it would be possible to come up with a legitimate plan," Sonic said, speaking very slowly and quietly, "that's why I wanted to go in _alone_."

Never had the blue hedgehog felt so on edge, looking in all directions, anticipating Celerity to show up out of nowhere at any moment.

Unbeknownst to the team, Celerity _was _watching, but instead of making herself known, she decided to act from the shadows.

"All right, children," she quipped, "lights out."

The evil, indigo hedgehog snapped her fingers and instantly, the opaque mess that filled the sky cascaded down to the earth, surrounding everyone and everything with a thick, dark haze.

The dark, foggy mess was so thick and blinding that everyone ended up separated from one another

"Ah...no fair!" Sonic groaned.

"What's happening!?" Tails uttered, "Sonic!?"

"Tails!?" Sonic responded, "Where are you?"

"I don't know." Tails said sadly.

_Cream_ was all alone with Cheese, and bother were terrified.

"Oh, why is it so dark?" Cream whimpered, "I can't see, Amy!? Blaze!? where are you?"

"I can't see anything at all!" Amy yelled.

Blaze tried as hard as she could to conjure flames strong enough to break through the darkness, but it hardly helped at all.

"I'm here, Cream," Blaze called, "though, I can't really be sure where "here" is!"

"Shadow!" Rouge called out, flying around cautiously, "Shadow, are you there?"

Eerily enough, she was the only one not getting a response from her partner.

Celerity stood back, laughing hysterically as she watched Sonic and his friends run aimlessly around in the cloud of blackness trying to find one another.

Sonic raced through the hazy mess as fast as he could, but he came no closer to finding any of his teammates. He could not see them, but he could hear them all, yelling, crying, calling out to each other.

He could hear Tails calling his name and though he sounded so close, Sonic just could not find him no matter how fast or in what direction he ran.

Realizing he had no control in the situation, Sonic stopped, took several steps back, and looked up.

"M-Mom..." Sonic implored as calmly as he could, "please, stop it! If you wanna torment me that's fine, just leave my friends alone."

"_Don't worry_," Celerity said told him from an unseen location, "_it's almost over_."

Sonic turned around rapidly, trying to see where his maternal tormentor was, but it was to no avail.

Suddenly, the darkness quickly vanished as the haze rose back up into the sky; now that everyone could see, the Sonic Team quickly regrouped. Cream was quick to hug Blaze and Amy was quick to hug them both.

Sonic just stood, staring on blankly as the shock from what had just happened slowly wore off.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled as he sped over and hugged Sonic tightly.

"Ah!" the slightly dazed Sonic uttered, "Oh, hey pal, good to see you again."

"That was crazy," Silver said, "we need to put a stop to this all this ungodly nonsense as soon as possible!"

"How are we gonna do that if we can't find this psycho!?" Knuckles uttered.

"Speaking of not being able to find someone..." Rouge voiced, "where's Shadow?"

Everyone looked around, finding that the black and red hedgehog was truly nowhere in sight.

Sonic stiffened in awe, his blood running cold at the realization.

"Oh...God..." he mumbled.

"What do we do now, Sonic?" Tails asked.

Sonic was unsure of what to do, and he could not think of a lot to say.

"We...have to...keep moving." he stated.

"What about Shadow?" Rouge wondered.

"I'm sure he's fine..." Sonic said awkwardly, "...Shadow knows how to deal solo..."

The bat girl lowered at the visibly tense hedgehog.

"'Kay," Rouge said, "I have no idea what's going on and you are acting very unlike yourself, but I don't have time for that." She flapped her wings and rose from the ground

"Rouge," Amy asked, "where are you going?"

"I don't know what you guys plan to do," Rouge voiced, "but, I'm going to look for my partner, good luck with...whatever it is you decide to do."

Then she flew off.

"Well, now what?" Knuckles sighed.

"It's getting dark again." Cream, who had Cheese hanging on her shoulders, lamented as the dark haze started kicking up again.

Sonic turned around and saw the same mass of darkness that had followed Celerity now slowly inching toward them.

"Run," Sonic advised frantically, "everybody, run, now, run!"

He grabbed Tails' hand with one hand, then he grabbed Blaze, who was already holding onto Cream, who in turn grabbed onto Amy, eventually everyone was linked by hand and running.

"Please, tell me there's a follow-up plan besides just running." Blaze voiced.

"I will be glad to tell you...as soon as another plan comes to mind." Sonic replied hesitantly.

Blaze looked at him strangely.

"Well if you have an idea, do tell," Sonic expressed anxiously, "I don't wanna be the only one thinking!"

* * *

><p>All right, another chapter done.<p>

I have a feeling after this chapter this may get easier to write.


	17. Chapter 17

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 17

Continuing on.

* * *

><p>Shadow found himself trapped in a containment chamber made out of glass, metal, and some other material he could not identify. The last thing he remembered was being lost in the dark haze with the others; during the chaos he had been rendered unconscious by an unseen force. Then when he came too, he discovered that he was in an unfamiliar place.<p>

He had no idea what was going on, but he knew that the situation he was in was not a good one.

Shadow put his hands on the glass wall of the chamber he was in, it was ice-cold to the touch; he slammed his fist against the wall, testing the fragility of his prison. Unfortunately, the glass did not break, it did not even crack; somehow, the situation brought back memories of the testing chambers on the ARK. Those were memories that the young hedgehog had hoped to forget after discovering that his whole past was a horrible lie. As anger and panic began to set in, Shadow started pounding on the glass with both fists, trying desperately to get out.

"I want out!" Shadow yelled, throwing his entire body into the side of the chamber.

The dark hedgehog stepped back and ran himself into the wall at full force, but again, no results.

"Have to get out," he muttered anxiously, "I have to get out, I want out!"

Shadow repeatedly ran himself into the side of the containment chamber, hoping to bust out, but try as he might, he could not even manage to nick the glass.

"Hey, hey, settle down now," a female voice advised, "you're just gonna wind up hurting yourself."

Shadow stopped and looked around, then, up on a suspended walkway, he spotted none other than Celerity herself.

"You." Shadow voiced intently.

"Yes." Celerity replied simply.

"What is this?" Shadow questioned, "What do you want with _me_? Isn't Sonic the one you're after?"

"Ah, questions," Celerity carelessly, "they always lead to trouble, luckily, they don't have to be answered."

Shadow gave up pounding on the glass, realizing that it would do no good.

"Why am I here?" he asked firmly, "Can I at least know that?"

Celerity smirked and snapped her fingers, teleporting herself down in front of Shadow's prison.

"I suppose," she said, "it's not like you can resist otherwise."

The hedgehog woman walked over to something large covered with a massive tarp, and with a wave of her hand, the tarp flew off of the object, revealing it to be her dangerous, precious machine.

"You see," she voiced, "I have finally found the _perfect _power source for my darling device here."

Shadow looked at the opening in the center of the machine and saw the ten gems that served as said power source.

"A-Are those..." the shocked, young hedgehog began to ask.

"The Selenerix Sapphires?" Celerity responded on a dime, "Yes indeed, I finally got ahold of all ten of them."

Shadow was taken aback by the revelation, he knew what the Selenerix Sapphires were, but he had yet to learn very much about them. Which left him to wonder how Celerity knew about them and just what they were capable of.

Just then, Celerity snapped her fingers yet again and this time, strange-looking chains shot out the walls of Shadow's prison and bound themselves around his arms and legs.

"What the-?" Shadow gasped in confusion.

"You see, pup," Celerity explained as Shadow's containment chamber began to open, "the power of the Selenerix Sapphires can only be activated when the gems are exposed to Ebonyte power...which you happen to possess."

Shadow struggled in his restraints, despite already figuring that it would be pointless.

"With the help of my ancestral power and some...intergalactic technology," Celerity continued, rubbing her hands together as they charged up with power, "I have connected everything in this base to my device...including your restraints, which will now proceed to continuously feed your Ebonyte and Black Arms power to the machine. Not only will it the most deadly weapon in existence, but it will make me the greatest, highest power ever known. God will tremble with fear and Satan will curse my name in envy." Lost in her morbid fantasies, the hedgehog woman could not help but laugh elatedly.

"You won't get away with this," Shadow growled, struggling futilely, "you can't!"

"Oh," Celerity responded coolly, "but I will."

She clapped her hands as if she were summoning a servant and suddenly, Shadow felt an agonizing sensation in his limbs that quickly spread throughout his entire body, bring him to his knees. At the same time, the Selenerix Sapphires began to glow immensely and the deadly device began to power up, indicating that Celerity's arrangement was successful.

"Yes," Celerity laughed excitedly, "yes, it's working! The plan is working! Soon I'll have won, and nobody will be able to stop me! Not even my son!"

* * *

><p>I guarantee that nobody will be able to predict how this story will turn out, and if they do, I will be impressed.<p> 


	18. Chapter 18

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 18

Moving on.

Some dark, well, darker, stuff is about to go down; once again thanks for all the helpful reviews.

* * *

><p>Sonic and co. were still in the heart of the city trying to avoid making contact with Celerity's dark hazard once again.<p>

Something began to bother Sonic, though he dare not voice his concern to the other; he realized that Cinder had not show up since she had explain everything that was going on to him. Sonic figure, that since Shadow, Cinder's son, had gone missing, the hedgehog queen would have surely shown up in a maternal panic, but she was nowhere to be found herself.

"Sonic," Blaze voiced urgently, "we _can't _outrun this...stuff...forever, it's just getting closer and closer."

"Once again," Sonic replied, "I'm open to suggestions."

All of a sudden, a loud crackling sound filled the air; looking up, it looked like lightning was flashing, however, it soon became clear that this was _not _lightning at all.

"What...is that?" Knuckles voiced.

"Sonic?" Blaze voiced tensely as Amy and Cream huddled closer to her.

"Oh my g-" before the blue hedgehog could finish his statement, they were once again overtaken by Celerity's cloud of darkness.

The black haze came on with such force, everyone's hands slipped from one another's; panic began to rise in Sonic when he realized that he had lost Tails, "Ah...ah no, no, come on, not again!"

However, the hero hedgehog was distracted when he felt a squeeze on his opposite hand, it was then he realized that he had managed to hang onto Blaze, "Sonic," she lamented, "I lost Cream." Before Sonic could respond, the dark haze began to swirl violently around them and on his heroic impulse, Sonic pulled the cat princess against him and held her tightly to keep her safe, while at the same time, Blaze held onto his for dear life.

When the dark maelstrom died down, Sonic and Blaze found themselves in an entirely different place, no longer in the center of the city, they were now trapped in some glass encasing in a dark and dimly lit place. "Oh, now what!?" Sonic groaned exasperatedly.

Looking to his left, he saw Tails and Knuckles trapped in another glass case, but, they appeared to be frozen in some crystalline, indigo substance.

"Tails!" Sonic gasped, "...and Knuckles."

Blaze then saw Cream and Amy trapped in a case to her right, also frozen in the same substance.

"No..." Blaze groaned.

Sonic looked around and saw that all of their friends were locked in glass prisons, all stuck in the crystalline traps.

"What is this?" the blue hedgehog wondered tensely.

"Sonic!" Blaze yelled frantically.

He heard a loud noise, and when he turned around, he found that Blaze was now trapped in the same material their friends were trapped in.

"No!" Sonic shouted, banging his fist against the crystal, "Blaze, no!"

"Glad you could make it." the indisputable voice of Celerity was heard.

Then, a plethora of bright lights came on, revealing that they were trapped in a large, very foreboding, very metallic fortress. Then, up on her suspended walkway, Celerity appeared.

"Welcome to my castle, my little demon!" Celerity announced.

Sonic ran up against the glass he was trapped in.

"What have you done to my friends!?" Sonic questioned furiously.

"Don't worry, son," the mad hedgehog woman explained, "they're fine, they've just been placed in a state of suspended animation."

Sonic looked around at his frozen friends, all of them having either a look of horror or a look of pain on their face.

"Why!?" the troubled, young hedgehog questioned, "What is the purpose of this!?"

"Because," Celerity told him, "the machine is all ready to go and I want you and your friends to see the results firsthand, the only reason I haven't petrified you yet is because I want you to witness the machine's power with your own eyes."

She raised the back curtain to revealed the fully powered machine.

"All I have to do is pull the lever," Celerity said blissfully, placing her hand on the large lever, "and in a matter of minutes the human race will be extinct."

"Don't count on it!" Sonic yelled.

He threw himself into the side of his glass prison, hoping to break out, but he could not.

Celerity pulled the lever, and as soon as she did, the machine displayed a holographic timer above the very top of it, which began to count down from five minutes.

"I won't let this happen!" Sonic attested, panicking as he spoke, "I can't!"

The young hedgehog slammed against the glass and pounded it relentlessly with his fists, trying desperately to stop and do what he had done his entire life. Sonic had been in situations like this many times before, and just before his enemy could act, he would escape and stop them in the nick of time. Unfortunately, it became painfully clear that this would not be like the other times.

Celerity watched patiently as her hero son struggled frantically inside his prison, trying to breakout and "save the day", and once there was only a minute left and he had made no progress as all, Sonic gave up on the glass and sank to his knees in defeat. He looked up despairingly at the timer as reached its final minute, the number increasing in size as it counted down.

Celerity approached the glass case and looked down the blue youngster.

"You know what the hardest part about being a hero is?" she voiced, "When you lose...everyone loses, then everyone who once looked up to you turns on you and _hates _you because you failed when they needed you most. Why put yourself under so much pressure and risk yourself so much pain? That's why it's better to be the bad guy, when you're the bad guy, everyone already hates you and everything you do, is for your own satisfaction."

Sonic did not respond, he could do nothing but stare at the timer as it counted down the last ten seconds; to make it worse, Celerity started to countdown with the timer as she pulled out a remote control:

"**10**

**9**

**8**

**7**

**6**

**5**..."

Sonic lowered his head, not wanting to look at the timer as it concluded the countdown.

"...**4**

**3**

**2**

**1**..."

A deafening mechanical whirring noise and violent electrical discharge came from the deadly machine.

"I win." Celerity sighed proudly, pressing a button on the remote control, encasing her son in the same crystalline material she had trapped all the others in.

* * *

><p>And there we go, what is going to happen next?<p>

You'll see.


	19. Chapter 19

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 19.

Moving on.

* * *

><p>The fort was dark, and somewhere in the confined corners, hidden from forbidden eyes, a holding chamber malfunctions, releasing the hedgehog woman imprisoned inside. The freed one then slinks stealthily through the fort, somehow able to stay out of sight, until the soul made it to another room full of other holding chambers. They were all empty, except for one; one chamber held the young, blue hedgehog, frozen in mournful position on his knees.<p>

The hedgehog woman tore open the base of the holding chamber with her bare hands and tore out the vital wires, sabotaging the machine, causing it to deactivate. She stood back and watched as the young hedgehog was released from his suspended animation.

As soon as the blue hedgehog came back into consciousness, he looked up in shock, "STOP!" he cried.

"Sonic!" the hedgehog woman uttered, getting his attention.

Sonic looked up and recognize the one that had freed him, "Cinder?" he voiced, "W-Where have you been!?"

"Ugh, that witch caught me off-guard and put me in one of her glass prisons," Cinder sighed, "she must not have maintained the chambers that well, because mine malfunctioned, that's how I got out."

Sonic looked around and realized that they were all alone.

"My friends," he uttered tensely, "what has she done with them?"

"And my Shadow as well." Cinder added.

"We have to find them!" Sonic said urgently.

He was about to race off to find his friends, only to be held back by Cinder.

"Hold on," she said, "before we do anything, we need to get out of here without being spotted."

Sonic nodded in response, then looked around again.

"Hey," he said, "that machine that was there a moment ago is gone too."

Taking another look, Sonic realized that the room looked very different from the last time he saw it with conscious eyes; it looked like several renovations had been done to it, making it look more high-tech and roomier.

"In fact, this entire place looks way different than before." Sonic noted warily.

"Makes you wonder just how long we were in those chambers." Cinder voiced.

They were both silent for a moment, that thought processing in Sonic's mind.

"We need to get going," Sonic affirmed, "now!"

He started running.

"Slowly, now," Cinder asserted, "we need to be discrete about this."

"Right," Sonic replied, "sorry, force of habit."

He looked around, then noticed the overhanging walkway up high.

"Maybe if we get up to that walkway we can find a way out." Sonic suggested.

Cinder used her power to teleport Sonic and herself up to the convenient walkway.

"Stay alert," the hedgehog women advised, "Celerity could show up at any moment."

"I am fully aware of that." Sonic stated.

The two made their way down the walkway and as they turned the corner, they found themselves in fortress, so large and mechanized, that it (in Sonic's mind) put ever fortress Eggman had ever built to shame. It definitely looked like something that could not have been done over night.

"What has she been up to?" Sonic mused, "And for how long?"

The young hedgehog was becoming increasingly disturbed as he wondered just how long he had been in that holding chamber.

"I can only imagine." Cinder stated.

"For all I know," Sonic said, "my friends may not even be here."

They then stumbled upon a well hidden door that seemed to blend into the wall.

"Hey," Sonic wondered, "could this be something?"

"A door that's hidden that well," Cinder voiced, "it's bound to be holding something important."

They both grabbed the long pipe, acting as the door handle, and proceeded to tug on the door until it opened. The looked to see if anyone or anything had been alerted to the noise, but saw no disturbance of any kind.

They walked through the door, but found that the room within was so dark, they could not see a thing.

"Hold on," Cinder said, "I got a light."

She held up her hand and conjured her own light, so bright, it lit up the entire room. As soon as they could see, what was seen was so shocking, Sonic stumbled backwards into Cinder.

The entire room, ground, walls, ceiling, was decorated with skeletal remains, ranging from complete skeletons to separate skulls and bones. There was not one square inch of the room that was not covered in bones, they could not even see the original wall, if there ever was one.

"B-Bones..." Sonic uttered, aghast, "_human _bones. Oh, God, this is what she did with the remains!"

"I'm not surprised that she kept the remains around, or that she used them for decor," Cinder voiced, "though, regarding her interior design, I expected better."

* * *

><p>Oh boy, another chapter done.<p>

I hope people like it, the reviews have been nice and helpful so far, I just hope they stay that way.


	20. Chapter 20

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 20.

More stuff coming along.

* * *

><p>Sonic looked around speechlessly at the room of bones, still trying to mentally process what he was looking at. Cinder on the other hand was investigating the décor, wondering how the skeletal remains were being held together.<p>

Suddenly, something fell out of thin air in front of Sonic's face, it appeared to be a scroll.

"What's this?" Sonic voiced tensely.

Cinder looked over the young hedgehog's shoulder as he unraveled the scroll, which seemed to be written on some sort of metallic paper. The scroll read:

"_So, I see that you are finally awake; don't worry, I'll deal with you later, but, for now, feel free to explore. I think you'll like what I've done with the world, there's wide open spaces for you to run around, technology is at one with nature, nobody is unemployed (wink), and best of all...NO HUMANS! Yes, my dearest only child, while you were in that cell, your mother successfully eradicated the entire human species. But, don't worry, we still have apes and monkeys...which hang at the bottom of the social pyramid, yes, there's a social pyramid, which yours truly tops._

_Anyway, by now, you're probably wondering where your friends are, don't worry, they're all safe, but, don't expect to find any of them here. Your friends are scattered throughout the world, hidden within the confines of my many citadels; you may track them down at any time. __Try not to cause too much trouble, not that you could anyway, since all that is exist now is at my mercy. _

_Have fun, darling._

_Love, your godly momma._"

When he finished reading, Sonic rolled up the scroll and promptly dropped it on the ground.

"No humans at all?" Cinder voiced, "Huh, so she finally did it."

Sonic said nothing, he was still taking in what he had just read.

"So," the hedgehog queen wondered, "what do you wanna do?"

Sonic inhaled deeply, then sighed loudly.

"I need to get my friends back," Sonic said, "but, first I need to get outside, I need to see what she has done to this world."

* * *

><p>Sorry it's so short, I wanted to make this one short so I can make a full chapter focused entirely on Sonic confronting his mother (again) and rescuing his friends.<p> 


	21. Chapter 21

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 21.

Moving on.

* * *

><p>Sonic and Cinder made their way through Celerity's citadel, which was not hard, as nothing and nobody was making the attempt to stop them, even when they were caught in plain sight. It was obvious that Celerity did <em>want <em>them to escape, she wanted them to see her new world with their own eyes.

Eventually, the two had found an exit; Sonic placed his hand on the door to open it, but hesitated.

"What uh...what are you waiting for?" Cinder wondered.

"I'm sorry," Sonic replied, "I'm just...not sure if I'll be able to...handle what I see."

"Understandable," the hedgehog woman replied, "but, if we are going to save the others, including Shadow, we have to go, right now."

The younger hedgehog nodded, closed his eyes, and then proceeded to push the door open; as soon as the door was opened, a wave of humidity washed over Sonic, inciting his curiosity even more.

"Good sweet Selenerix." Cinder gasped in shock.

With that, Sonic slowly opened his eyes to see what drew Cinder's reaction, only to stagger in shock when he did.

The environment, as far as they could see, was nothing but massive trees, oversized plants, hills, and rocks. Basically, it appeared that nature had taken over everything, the roads were made out of metal and dirt instead of concrete, the buildings were made of carved stone and twisted metal. The sky was shrouded with endless, dark clouds and the air was thick with heavy humidity and the overwhelming smell of smoke and rain.

"It...looks like...a jungle," Cinder voiced, "the mother of all jungles. Does the entire world look like this?"

Sonic still could not figure out how to respond.

"Never mind," Cinder said, "the real question right now is: Where do we start?"

"I'd say follow her trail," Sonic finally spoke, "but, I don't think there is a trail, not a consistent one at least."

He looked around again.

"Maybe we should find someone and get some information," he voiced, "I really can't think of what else to do yet."

Cinder nodded in agreement.

Sonic looked in both directions, trying to figure out which way they should go; after a minute of deliberating, Sonic decided that they go in the direction that had the most visible light on the horizon.

As they walked, Sonic began to pick up an odd scent, that of smoke, static, and an unsettling hint of bittersweetness.

"Ugh," the blue hedgehog groaned, "I don't know what were coming up on, but I don't like smell of it."

"It's probably a city." Cinder stated.

They continued walking and finally came upon, as Cinder guessed, a massive city, full of buildings and skyscrapers, more trees and plants, and large monuments that seemed more like eyesores than spectacles.

"To this day I wonder who she's trying to impress." the hedgehog woman scoffed.

Sonic ran out onto the four-way city street and looked around frantically; there were no cars or vehicles of any kind and there was no one to be found.

"But," he wondered, "where are all the people?"

Cinder caught up with him.

"Go on ahead and try the heart of the city," Cinder suggested, "there's gotta be some answers there, she wouldn't build a city and leave it uninhabited for no reason."

"I hope you're right," Sonic sighed, "but, what will you do?"

"In the meantime," Cinder said, "I'll do my own investigating, going our separate ways, you can go as fast as you want and I can analyze things as thoroughly as I need to, we may have a better chance of figuring stuff out faster."

Sonic nodded in response.

"Okay," he said, "but, please, try not to get caught, I can't risk losing anymore allies."

Cinder responded by rubbing his head reassuringly, then she turned and made her way eastward. Sonic then turned ran full speed northward, hoping to reach the center of the city that way.

* * *

><p>All right, new chapter done.<p>

Though I cannot guarantee it, I will make the attempt to make the next chapter longer, since there will be more to tell coming up.


	22. Chapter 22

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 22.

Still going, let's see where this one goes.

* * *

><p>Sonic continued running down the vacant city street, using his hand to partially shield his eyes from the near-blinding city lights as he scanned the horizon. He had no idea where he was going or what lie ahead, all he knew was that his friends were trapped and they needed him.<p>

"Gotta find something," he huffed, "there's gotta be something that can lead me to the others somewhere!"

Sonic never tired himself out running, but the anxiety of the situation increasing his heart rate and making him breathe heavily was enough to make him uncomfortable as he tried to run.

So many thoughts ran through his head, but he had no idea which one to focus on; he wanted to know where his friends were, he wanted to know how long they had been in suspended animation, and he wanted to know if all the human race was truly gone.

"How'd this happen," Sonic wondered, "how'd she get away with this, I would have thought _somebody _other than me would have tried to stop her; if not me, then Shadow, or maybe Eggman..."

That thought stopped him in his tracks.

"Eggman," he voiced, now at a walking pace, "I didn't even think about that, where has he been?" Sonic never enjoyed it when his enemy stirred up trouble, but the fact that he had not in a while disturbed him. "I would have thought that Eggman would have been eager to get his hands on that machine, but I never saw him come around...why?" Sonic wondered if Eggman had gone the way of the rest of the humans or if he had been apprehended long before hand. Judging by his lengthy absence, Sonic guessed the latter was the case.

As he continued walking, the road suddenly gave out beneath his feet, dropping him into a large, hollow area underground. "Ah, what!?" Sonic uttered, sitting up and rubbing his head. He looked around and found an unsettling sight...the crumbling ruins of Station Square.

"_Whoa_," Sonic thought, "_she just...built over the city, probably the whole rest of the world too_."

He got to his feet and began to walk forward into what was left of the former city; everything looked so old, it reminded Sonic of the temple of the Mystic Ruins.

"I wonder if I can find any clues around he-" his thoughts were interrupted when he tripped over something in the ground.

Sonic looked down and saw something sticking out of the ground, it was dark blue and shiny. He grabbed it and tried to pull it out, but it was too heavy, so instead he began to dig around it, until the dirt seemed to fall away on its own. When all the dirt had fallen away, Sonic stumbled backwards in shock at the sight of what he found.

The blue hedgehog had uncovered het another Crystalline holding chamber, and inside it was...

"...Eggman?" Sonic uttered in shock.

Without another thought, Sonic punched through the base of the chamber and tore out the wires to disable it making the Crystalline substance retract and release his enemy. Eggman collapsed to the ground, then looked up at the blue hedgehog that freed him.

"Oh, it would be you that releases me." Eggman groaned.

"Yeah," SOnic replied dryly, "you're welcome."

"Where am I?" Eggman asked.

"The dilapidated ruins of Station Square." Sonic stated.

Eggman looked around.

"Well now," he voiced, "I assume this that Celerity's work?"

"So you did know of her." Sonic responded.

"How could I not?" Eggman said, "Her name was everywhere."

"I'm just surprised that she trapped you as well." Sonic stated.

Eggman stood up.

"Yeah, well," he explained awkwardly, "I may have underestimated her intellect."

"Let me guess," Sonic wondered, "you were trying to get your hands on the machine?"

"I wanted to," Eggman sighed, "but I couldn't get near it, so I tried spying on her to see if the machine had a weakness, but, she apparently already knew I was coming, because the trap was set as soon as I got there."

"She's basically God with that machine," Sonic said, "she trapped me, all of us, before we could stop her."

"Stop her from what?" Eggman asked.

"You didn't hear?" Sonic replied, "Man, she must have caught you a way, _way _ early, Celerity planned to wipe out the entire human race...which she did...save for you."

Eggman looked on speechlessly.

"I wasn't fast enough this time," Sonic said dismally.

"So, except for me," Eggman responded, "all of the humans are gone?"

"It looks that way, I was the last one of the gang to wake up," Sonic said, "she has my friends locked up all over the world apparently and I don't even know where to start, I tried to look for clues, but I ended up down here."

Eggman looked up and saw the hole Sonic had fallen through.

"Well, how long were we "asleep"?" Eggman questioned.

"I don't know!" Sonic yelled.

Eggman looked up again.

"Well then," he said, "let's go find out, and then we'll go find the others."

Sonic looked at him Strangely.

"Really," he voiced warily, "you're gonna team up with me?"

"It's not like I can turn on you," Eggman replied, "she took everything from me and left me with only the clothes I'm wearing before she encased me."

Sonic looked on dubiously.

"I'm serious," the rotund man affirmed, turning his pockets inside out to prove he had nothing with him, "I have nothing, search me yourself if you have to."

"I'd rather not," Sonic groaned, "let's just go."

* * *

><p>There we go.<p>

Honestly, I had planned on adding Eggman to the story sooner, but I kept forgetting, so I had to figure out how to get him in here.


	23. Chapter 23

Bloody Umbrae

Chapter 23.

All right, let's see where this goes.

* * *

><p>Shadow awoke from his most recent spell of unconsciousness, only to find that he had been moved to yet another mysterious location.<p>

"What?" he wondered, "Where am I now?"

With all the effort he could muster, Shadow forced himself into a sitting position, the pain in his arms making the simple act more excruciating than it should have been. Celerity had used him as a power source for so long, it was a wonder that he had any energy left at all. He was certain that if it were not for his immortality, it would have killed him by now.

The black hedgehog looked around and found himself in large glass dome, and on the ceiling, he saw a massive plaque that read, "Sky Citadel".

"C-Citadel?" Shadow mumbled, "When did this-"

He managed to get to his feet, then slowly stumbled over to the wall of the dome he was in, where he looked out at a jungle of metallic architecture and tangled wires producing continuous surges of electricity.

"What's happening?" Shadow mused tensely, "How long? How long were we unconscious? Where's Rouge? Sonic? Anyone?"

* * *

><p>Rouge opened her eyes, waking from her forced stupor, and found herself trapped in a glass, diamond-shaped, dome, all alone. With a frantic look around, she found herself in a large building and on the ceiling was a sign that read, "Valley Citadel".<p>

"Shadow?" was the first thing to come out of her mouth as she got to her feet, "Shadow!?"

The bat looked around and found her self in an unsettling setting, it was dark and cold, the only light source being the sparks of electricity popping off of the wires and odd devices all around her.

"Where am I!?" she uttered tensely.

* * *

><p>Amy ran at the side of her heart-shaped dome prison at full speed, slamming her hammer into the glass as she tried to break out. However, as soon as the hammer connected, it bounced back with enough force to throw her off her feet. Lying on her back. she saw on the ceiling a sign that said, "Flatlands Citadel".<p>

"What is this?" she groaned, "Sonic? Cream? Where is everyone?"

* * *

><p>After waking up in his Emerald-shaped dome prison and seeing a sign that read "Mountain Citadel", Knuckles spent fifteen minutes violently punching the glass of the dome.<p>

"Got...to...get...out...and...find...the...others!" he yelled as his fists collided with the glass.

He kept going for a few more minutes before he realized that he was not even scratching the glass, he decided to stop for the time being to save his energy.

"What the hell is going?" he growled, leaning against the glass wall.

* * *

><p>Cream and Cheese sat huddled in the center of their flower-shaped dome prison, frightened by their ominous surroundings. There was a sign on the ceiling, however, it was kind of hard for her to read, she made out the word "Swamp", but the other word she had to sound out one syllable at a time, "Ci-ta-del?"<p>

"We were sleeping just a little bit ago," the little bunny murmured, "I wonder where we are, Cheese."

Both jumped upon hearing a loud hissing noise as hot steam emanated from the tangled pipes above their heads.

"I don't like it here!" Cream cried, "Where is everyone? I want Mr. Sonic! I want Ms. Blaze! I. Want. My. Mom! Momma! MOMMA! MOMMMMMMA!" she continued to yell and cry for her mother, but the loud hissing of the steam pipes began to drown her out.

* * *

><p>Silver awoke in a light bulb-shaped dome with some sort of metal wiring wrapped tight around his hands, presumably to impede his psychokinetic abilities. He made note of the sign that read, "Desert Citadel", before he got to work.<p>

"Get off, get off!" the grayish hedgehog growled, banging his bound hands around, trying to break the wiring.

When brute force did not work, he began to bite at the wire in a desperate attempt to get it off; the wire was not tight enough to cutoff his circulation, but, it was tight enough to make and movement of his digits impossible.

"Agh, what is this!" he groaned, gnawing the wire so hard it started to hurt his gums.

* * *

><p>Blaze looked around her glass prison, shaped like a flame, and saw the sign that read, "Volcano Citadel".<p>

"No way am I staying in here," she said to herself, "the others are out there somewhere, Cream, Sonic, Amy, I have to find them."

She then began to feel the heat around her, anyone else would not have been able to stand it, but, to Blaze, it was like any other day.

"You're going to regret putting me in here, Mad Woman," the cat princess voiced, referring to Celerity as she began to build up her energy, "you don't trap one with the power of flames in a volcano, that's like locking a snow man in a walk in freezer!"

* * *

><p>Tails awoke in a cloud-shaped dome, surround by metal walls and pipes, there was one window, through which Tails saw that wherever he was trapped was submerged in water. Upon the ceiling was a sign reading, "Ocean Citadel".<p>

"How did I get here?" he wondered.

The young fox flew up to the top of the dome, pushing, pounding, and slamming into it with all his strength, naturally, he did no damage and started to panic.

"Sonic?" he uttered, "Sonic!? SOOOONNNNIIIIIIIIC!"

* * *

><p>All right, new chapter done, I decided it would be best to show what was going on with the other characters while Sonic was off doing his thing.<p>

It probably cold have been longer, but, I figured, it's my birthday (20th b-day to be exact), I may as well get something accomplished.


End file.
